Code of conduct for EMCI practitioners

The terms in these EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them as stated in the List of GNG Terms & Definitions.

1.3.

Till 2011.12.31 for all professions within the certification scope ‘maritime practitioner’ separate codes of conduct applied. Up from 2012.01.01 one code of conduct for all maritime practitioners applies.

2. Objectives

2.1.

This EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements aim to maintain the best possible image for the profession.

2.2.

This EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements are a guideline for all EMCI Maritime Practitioners, individual certified & registered as well as company based certified and registered, who in practising their profession and business may experience ethical problems when dealing with the interests of colleagues and/or principals and customers.

3.

Applicability

3.1.

The EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements apply to all EMCI Maritime Practitioners.

3.2.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner may not ignore the code of conduct.

3.3.

The EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements will also apply to the EMCI Maritime Practitioner who have been suspended.

3.4.

Cancellation, termination or annulment of an EMCI Maritime Practitioners’s certification, for whatever reason, does not relieve the EMCI practitioner from having the The EMCI Code of Conduct and the EMCI Procedure Requirements apply to his or her actions if these took place in the period in which the certification was valid.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner must carry out the assignment given to him/her to the best of his/her ability.

4.2.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner must not accept any assignment for which he/she lacks the knowledge and/or skills to carry it out, unless he is able to subcontract the assignment to one or more colleague ADR practotioners who do have the necessary knowledge and/or skills with the approval of the principal.

4.3.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner him/herself must be physically and mentally capable of carrying out the assignment.

5. Authority

5.1.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner must never give the impression that he or she has more authority than he/she has actually been given.

6. Employee and third party skills

6.1.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner will make sure that his/her employees possess the highest level of professional skills possible in his or her field.

6.2.

The previous paragraph also applies to any knowledge acquired externally – be this through a temp agency or subcontracted – and activities or actions carried out by third parties other than the EMCI Maritime Practitioner’s own employees.

7. Damage to and loss suffered by colleagues

7.1.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner should refrain from taking part in any activity or behaviour which may cause damage or harm to other EMCI Maritime Practitioners and/or certified colleagues, in general and in relation to his or her principals.

8. Fraternal offers

8.1.

If the assignment is offered to him by a colleague, an EMCI Maritime Practitioner must provide clear communication on whether the assignment parties were known to him through a colleague or another reliable source.

8.2.

If the assignment parties were not known to him, a reasonable fee will be agreed upon.

9. Announcements among colleagues

9.1.

Announcements made by EMCI Maritime Practitioners among themselves and those made to their customers will be dealt with in a businesslike, responsible and confidential way.

10. Amicable employees

10.1.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner should refrain from encouraging a colleague’s employee from ending his/her contract with that colleague.

10.2.

However, if a EMCI Maritime Practitioner is approached by a colleague’s employee because the employee wishes to collaborate with him or wants to work for him, the EMCI Maritime Practitioner should discuss this possibility with his colleagues before entering into an agreement with said employee.

11. Maintaining one's name and fame

11.1.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner will refrain from making remarks to third parties which will potentially damage the name and fame of said colleague.

12. Disputes among colleagues

12.1.

In case of a dispute with a colleague, an EMCI Maritime Practitioner must assume a fair position towards him/her and attempt to resolve the dispute amicably.

13. Use of a distinctive title

13.1.

With due regard to the provisions of this code of conduct and the area in which the EMCI Maritime Practitioner is certified, there are no limitations to the use of the title ‘EMCI Maritime Practitioner’.

14. Operating procedure

14.1.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner will carry out activities and/or tasks commissioned by a customer promptly and in an honest and insightful way.

15. Description of instruction and fees

15.1.

The EMCI Maritime Practitioner and customer must always agree upon the terms of reference, prior to carrying out the instruction.

15.2.

If an EMCI Maritime Practitioner works with a set of terms and conditions, these are considered to be part of the terms of reference.

15.3.

The terms of reference contains at least a complete description of the work and method, such as the assignment, the honorarium (the fee), the method of advertising, appraising, investigation and selling, the method of reporting, the conditions to the assignment.

15.4.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner and customer must also agree upon the assignment to be paid prior to any work commencing.

15.5.

An EMCI Maritime Practitioner will cite either a fixed price or a method of calculating it.

16. Testing

16.1.

Upon the request of an EMCI Maritime Practitioner, a colleague of the EMCI Maritime Practitioner, an aggrieved third party or the customer, the actions, doings or failings of one or more EMCI Maritime Practitioners, a group of EMCI Maritime Practitioners or a colleague EMCI Maritime Practitioner may be examined for compatibility with the code of conduct and standing rules regulating complaints and disciplinary actions.

16.2.

Such testing/review will always be based solely upon the code of conduct and the regulations or disciplinary rules applicable at the time when the action, doing or failure took place.

16.3.

Testing will be based upon a complaint made by a stakeholder or someone who has incurred a loss.

16.4.

In the general interest of the profession, EMCI and/or any other trade or legitimate professional organisation – to the extent to which their clauses of association demonstrate this – is/are authorized, either independently or in commission, to lodge a complaint if there is no aggrieved party or stakeholder at hand.

17. EMCI procedure requirements

17.1.

All EMCI Maritime Practitioner are subjected to EMCI Procedure Requirements. These EMCI Proceduree requirements apply for all EMCI Maritime Practitioners.

18. Special clauses for maritime brokers

18.1.

With due regard to the provisions of this EMCI Code of Conduct and EMCI Procedure Requirements and the area in which the Maritime Practitioner is certified, there are no limitations to the use of the title ‘broker barges and houseboats’, ‘shipbroker’ and ‘yachtbroker’.

19. Special clauses for marinesurveyors

19.1.

With due regard to the provisions of this EMCI Code of Conduct and EMCI Procedure Requirements and the area in which the Maritime Practitioner is certified, there are no limitations to the use of the title ‘marinesurveyor’ and ‘yachtsurveyor’.

20. Special clauses for maritime appraisers

20.1.

The title EMCI maritime appraiser is a subtitle only. The use of the subtitle EMCI maritime appraiser is exclusively reserved for the EMCI individual certified maritime brokers and marinesurveyors.

21. Special clauses for maritime arbitrators and mediators

21.1.

In exeption to this EMCI Code of Conduct and EMCI procedure Requirements only the Code of Conduct of the ADR International Register applies for all EMCI maritime arbitrators and mediators.

22. Special clauses for harbourmasters

22.1.

There are no special clauses for harbourmasters.

23. Special provisions

23.1.

In cases not provided for by this code of conduct, the point of departure will be that an EMCI Maritime Practitioner's conduct must be in keeping with the standing of the profession as laid down in the relevant EMCI Certification Scheme and standards, including all underlying documents and regulations set by EMCI; this behaviour must not damage the image of the profession or its members.

24. Final clauses

24.1. Liability

EMCI does not accept any liability whatsoever for actions and/or behaviour resulting from this document.

EMCI emphatically denies liability of any kind.

24.2. Authority

EMCI is authorized to set and alter this code.

24.3. Confidentiality

EMCI, its management, its committees as well as individual committee members are obliged to keep their knowledge of EMCI Maritime Practitioners and/or third parties, information regarding companies, agencies, and any organizations and/or persons about which they have information as a result of their role within EMCI strictly confidential.

Any breach of confidentiality is grounds for the removal of the person from his/her position and if they are EMCI Maritime Practitioners grounds for examination of compatibility with the code of conduct and the standing rules regulating complaints and disciplinary action.

24.4. Disputes

Should a dispute occur because this code does not or does not adequately cover a situation, EMCI is authorized without prejudice to the provisions of the CLAUSES of association to leave no stone unturned to alter the statutes of EMCI.

If EMCI does not settle the dispute, the dispute will be subject to mediation. If mediation is not successful, the dispute will be brought before a Dutch court.

24.5. Multilingual

In cases where more than one language is in use, English will be the language of choice.

24.6. Settlement

This version of this EMCI Code of Conduct and EMCI Procedure Requirements was enacted on the date as stated in the header of these Rules. All other versions are hereby repealed and replaced by the current code with said date and version number.